Chuck roast tonight, friends! As fabulous and delicious as a smoked beef brisket can be, sometimes it is simply too large and too expensive for a small gathering, or maybe you're cooking up a meal for yourself and your sweetheart. Chuck roast is a great choice if you really like brisket, as it can be smoked in a similar matter, but most people make mistakes because they don't understand the differences between the two cuts of meat.
A chuck roast is a leaner piece of meat than a brisket. Essentially, it is several lean masses of muscle bound together with areas of fat and collagen. Because there is less marbling and an overall smaller size, there are three things you must consider and change when you smoke a chuck roast:
- Chuck roasts are smaller, so the meat will rise in temperature more quickly.
- Chuck roasts have less fat, but not much less collagen. Do more to retain moisture with wrapping than you would with a brisket.
- Chuck roasts should be allowed to cook at a stable post-stall temperature for longer time than a brisket. Don't yank it out of the smoker too soon.
As to the initial prep work, consider a moist binder like yellow mustard or olive oil with a 50/50 mix of coarsely ground salt and pepper. A favorite barbeque mix would be okay too. Let the chuck roast sit overnight in the refrigerator to absorb the spices. Keep the meat refrigerated until it is almost time to start smoking it.
As cooking time approaches, think a bit about the heat and time. Set up a stable, but slightly hotter fire than you would use for a brisket. For chuck roast, make the air temperature about 250 °F (120 °C). Some people will use even higher temperatures, but I suggest not going too hot; let time do the work instead. Expect about five or six hours to reach the temperature for wrapping, thence another hour and a half to two hours after wrapping.
The Chuck Roast Stall
Smoking is a matter of the meat absorbing heat until the temperature deep inside gets to the proper finishing value. Chuck roasts are not as heavy a cut of meat as brisket; the temperature will rise somewhat faster. Also, the stall is less flat - temperature may continue to creep up, though at a much shallower rate than before the stall. A chuck roast could take about seven or eight hours in the smoker, not counting resting time.
As the chuck heats up, water will will evaporate off of the surface, and more water deep in the chuck roast will move out toward the surface - also to evaporate. Water takes heat to evaporate, drawing away energy which would otherwise heat the chuck roast meat. Somewhere around 155 °F to 160 °F (68° C to 71° C), a balance or "stall" happens, where the meat temperature almost stops rising while energy from the smoker goes into evaporating water. Once there is much less water in the meat, the stall ends and the meat temperature goes up at a steeper rate. Regarding time, the stall typically starts between two and thee hours into the smoking and, for chuck roasts, takes a couple of hours to end.
Track the stall by checking the internal temperature every half hour. More frequently is probably just extra work; less often may cause you to miss the end of the stall.
The stall is a natural aspect of cooking a large piece of meat; do not ruin the chuck roast by fighting the stall with a higher smoking temperature. Give it time and be patient. There are incredibly tasty chuck roasts smoked at lower temperatures, near 220 °F (105 °C), which take even more time. As you wait, remind yourself how delicious the finished roast will be!
Wraping the Chuck Roast
When the chuck roast warms to about 170 °F (77 °C), remove it from the smoker for wrapping. I have found that drizzling on a 50/50 mix of apple juice and water, about three or four table spoons' worth, helps keep the meat moist. Wrap it in foil or two layers of paper to hold in the remaining moisture. Put it back into the smoker to continue cooking.
Foil or Paper to Wrap a Chuck Roast?
Wrapping a chuck roast in tinfoil seals in the moisture better, and the foil will transmit heat to the meat more effectively than paper.
Butcher's paper is more porous. It is less of a heat conductor and it breathes more than aluminum foil. Don't think of paper as an insulator, though; it still transmits heat through conduction through its fibers and air between the fibers. Paper slows down the evaporation process, but it does not completely stop. In fact there are pitmasters who insist on paper as the perfect wrap because it does allow moisture to slowly evaporate out of the meat yet keep enough to result in a chuck roast with a crisp bark and tender, moist interior.
Whichever wrap is used, pay close attention to the internal meat temperature. Watch it climb initially; note the stall when it happens, when it ends, and also the heating of the meat after it is wrapped. The chuck roast is finished when the temperature is close to 205° F (96° C). For more tenderness, you may let it stay in the smoker up to a half hour longer, but you must keep the temperature from going higher. Here is how:
Instead of letting it cook hotter, consider adjusting the smoker temperature - the fuel and ventilation - down to about 220° F (105° C). In other words, let the meat cook, wrapped, at a lower temperature for a while longer. Keeping it stable keeps the moisture from being driven out too fast.
Remember that spritz of apple juice and water? That was important. As an alternative, try cider vinegar or even a soy sauce and water mix, to keep the chuck roast moist.
Experienced pitmasters will agree that the chuck roast needs to rest for at least an hour after being removed from the smoker. In fact a couple of hours of rest are better than one. A more scientific way to rest a chuck roast is to check the internal temperature and let it rest until it cools down to 160° F (71° C) before slicing and serving. Allowing the temperature to get that low will allow the collagen and fats to cool and become more firm. The meat will thus be tender, but not too chewy.
Though smaller than a brisket, and with different cartilage and marbling, chuck roast can be smoked very nicely indeed. Be sure to do the things which will keep it moist and also tender. You and your guests - or your date - will really enjoy this tasty cut off meat.
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